Academic development

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Are intentions to change, policy awareness, or health knowledge related to changes in dietary intake following a sugar-sweetened beverage tax in South Africa? A before-and after study
(BMC, 2022) Essman, Michael; Zimmer, Catherine; Dillman Carpentier, Francesca; Swart, Elizabeth C.; Smith Taillie, Lindsey
Background In April 2018, South Africa implemented the Health Promotion Levy (HPL), one of the first sugarsweetened beverage (SSB) taxes to be based on each gram of sugar (beyond 4 g/100mL). The objectives of this study were to examine whether the psychological constructs tax awareness, SSB knowledge, SSB risk perception, and intentions to reduce SSB intake were associated with taxed beverage intake, whether they changed from pre- to posttax, and whether they modified the effect of the HPL. Methods We collected single day 24-hour dietary recalls surveyed from repeat cross-sectional surveys of adults aged 18–39 years in Langa, South Africa. Participants were recruited in February-March 2018 (pre-tax, N = 2,481) and February-March 2019 (post-tax, N = 2,507) using door-to-door sampling. Surveys measured tax awareness, SSB knowledge, SSB risk perception, and intention to reduce SSB intake. SSB intake was estimated using a two-part model. To examine changes over time, logistic regression models were used for binary outcomes (tax awareness and intention to reduce SSB consumption) and linear regression models for continuous outcomes (SSB knowledge SSB risk perceptions). Effect modification was tested using interaction terms for each psychological construct with time. Results No constructs were associated with SSB intake at baseline. At post-tax, the predicted probability to consume taxed beverages was 33.5% (95% CI 28.5–38.5%) for those who expressed an intention to reduce SSB intake compared to 45.9% (95% CI 43.7–48.1%) for those who did not. Among consumers, intending to reduce SSB intake was associated with 55 (95% CI 28 to 82) kcal/capita/day less SSBs consumed. Tax awareness, SSB knowledge, and SSB risk perception increased by a small amount from pre- to post-tax. Intentions to reduce SSB intake was lower in the post-tax period. The tax effect on SSB intake was modified by SSB knowledge and intention to reduce SSB intake, with higher levels of each associated with lower SSB intake.
Entering university studies: identifying enabling factors for a successful transition from school to university
(Springer Verlag, 2017) McGhie, Venicia
The South African higher education sector is faced with high attrition and low retention rates. Studies conducted by the Council on Higher Education in South Africa have found that 50% of black students who access university study drop out, and the majority of dropouts occurred in the first year of study. While these studies revealed what the challenges were and why they occurred, not much has been done to overcome or prevent the challenges. Therefore, knowledge on how first-year students could be assisted and guided to adjust successful to the university environment is paramount. The goal of this article is to determine which factors enable new students’ successful adjustment to the university environment. Identifying these factors was deemed important because they could be used to assist and guide new student cohorts. Thirty-two first-year students were the research participants, and data were collected from all of them through a questionnaire, two written reflective pieces, the students’ results and individual interviews. Content analysis, using a three-stage open coding process, was used to categorize the findings into themes and sub-themes. The findings revealed that 20 of the 32 students had difficulty overcoming their transition challenges and failed some or all their subjects at the end of their first year of study. The remaining 12 students overcame their challenges and achieved study success. They identified three overall factors that enabled them to adjust and integrate successfully to the university environment.
Examining the news media reaction to a national sugary beverage tax in South Africa: A quantitative content analysis
(Springer Nature, 2021) Swart, Elizabeth C.; Essman, Michael; Stoltze, F.M
: South Africa was the first sub-Saharan African country to implement a sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax called the Health Promotion Levy (HPL) in April 2018. Given news media can increase public awareness and sway opinions, this study analyzed how the media represented the HPL, including expressions of support or challenge, topics associated with the levy, and stakeholder views of the HPL.
Exploring family language policy in action: Child agency and the lived experiences of multilingual Ethiopian and Eritrean families in Sweden
(University of Western Cape, 2021) Degu, Yeshalem Abraham
Existing family language policy (FLP) scholarship has been criticised for insufficiently addressing children’s voices and perspectives on their multilingual experiences, as well as lacking representation and heterogeneity in terms of studies involving multilingual families from diverse family types, languages, and contexts outside the experiences of Western middle-class bilingual families. Against this backdrop, this paper examines the multilingual familial experiences of three Ethiopian and Eritrean migrant families in Sweden by paying particular attention to children’s agency and caregiver-children dynamics in FLP making. The study draws on multimodal biographic data obtained from children and parents through language portrait methods of body and space mapping activities, post-mapping narration, and semi-structured interviews. The data are analysed in light of Smith-Christmas’s (2020) framework, which views child agency in FLP at the intersection of compliance regime, linguistic competence, linguistic norms, and power dynamics.
Exploring the contribution of universities to labour market requirements in South Africa: An employer's perspective
(SAGE Publications, 2021) Mobarak, Kaashiefa
Organisations function in a flexible and changing environment that requires dynamic responses to diverse forces influencing their sustainability and growth. Employers wish to recruit graduates who can capably and successfully transfer their university-acquired skills and knowledge to the workplace. The aim of this qualitative study is to explore the contribution of universities to labour market requirements in South Africa from an employer’s perspective. Signalling theory assists as the theoretical framework to establish: (1) whether the skills and knowledge required by labour markets are reflected in the advertised degree programmes of universities; and (2) whether skills and knowledge shortcomings could have been addressed sufficiently by universities.
Factors determining household-level food insecurity during COVID-19 epidemic: A case of Wuhan, China
(Swedish Nutrition Foundation, 2021) Zhang, Yu; Yang, Kui; Crush, Jonathan
: In coping with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, cities adopted social isolation and lockdown measures; however, little is known about the impacts of these restrictions on household food security.This study provides a timely assessment of household food insecurity (HFI) in the Chinese city of Wuhan during the COVID-19 epidemic period and also investigates its determinant factors. We collected valid data on food insecurity from 653 households in Wuhan via an online questionnaire in March 2020. The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale Score (HFIASS) was used to measure HFI, and a multiple linear regression model was used to determine the HFIASS.
Precision approaches to food insecurity: A spatial analysis of urbanhunger and its contextual correlates in an African city
(Elsevier, 2022) Davis, Jac; Magadzire, Nyasha; Hemerijckx, Lisa-Marie
Although progress has been made in addressing hunger and poor diets in African cities, many urban res-idents still suffer from food insecurity, and there is large heterogeneity within cities. We examine spatialvariations in hunger and dietary quality using a representative study of 983 households and 440 foodretailers in a South African secondary city. Substantial variation existed both between and within urbanneighborhoods: high-income neighborhoods were not free of hunger, and low-income neighborhoodsvaried in diet quality according to individual characteristics. After controlling for income and gender,individual characteristics including access to consumer technologies for food transportation and storage,and informal food assistance from neighbors, were protective against hunger and poor quality diets.Results suggest that meaningful variations exist at smaller geographic units than the city-level orneighborhood-level statistics typically reported in food security research. Average socioeconomic statusof neighborhoods may not be a sufficient proxy for their food insecurity, as poor areas vary substantiallyin their food access options and food choices. Precision estimates of hunger and poor diets are needed totarget interventions at those neighborhoods and those households with the greatest need, and to tailorinterventions for the specific and different needs of urban residents within neighborhoods.
Re-imagining resilient food systems in the post-Covid-19 era in Africa
(MPDI, 2021) May, Julian; Mentz-Coetzee, Melody
The COVID-19 pandemic heightened awareness that serious illness and injury are common and important shocks that result in food insecurity, the loss of livelihoods, and unsustainable coping strategies. These have significant negative impacts on welfare, especially for the poorest, driving up health care expenditure, reducing capabilities for productive and reproductive activities, and decreasing capacity to manage climate and other changes. These negative impacts are especially pertinent for countries in Africa where the high prevalence of communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria have resulted in repeated health shocks. Unusually, the prevalence of these illnesses results in their impact being similar to those of covariate shocks, increasing the risk of poverty for entire communities and reducing options for coping strategies. Livelihood disruptions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic may have similar consequences for African food systems. The pandemic is likely to exacerbate existing dynamics of risk and introduce new and unanticipated changes to food systems. Although the initial focus of governments has been on public health interventions, preserving and growing resilient food systems is critical if livelihoods are to be protected. This paper discusses the implications of these evolving forms of risk and uncertainty for sustainable African food systems, reflecting on lessons from other systemic shocks.
Reflections of employed graduates on the suitability of their skills and knowledge for workplace-readiness
(Stellenbosch University, 2019) Mobarak, Kaashiefa
There is broad consensus amongst scholars and policy makers that the development of workplace-ready graduates requires a review of the teaching and learning strategies currently informing classroom learning. It has been argued that the curricula taught at higher education institutions should be compatible with industry requirements and expectations: this would not only ensure the livelihood of graduates, but also their viability in an increasingly competitive and changing labor market. Accordingly, academics have a duty to revise their approaches to teaching and learning to ensure that the graduate output will service graduate workplace-readiness. In light of the aforementioned realities, this study explored the opinions of employed graduates with regard to their workplace-readiness upon employment. The primary objective was to establish whether South African higher education institutions are producing graduates considered worthy and capable by the employment sector
A review of spaces of local participation to promote service delivery in South Africa
(Kamla-Raj Enterprises, 2019) Nomdo, Amarone; Masiya, Tyanai; Khambule, Isaac
In many developing countries, there is a continued decline in public participation at the local level which often results in poor service delivery and as a result, a rise in protests. South Africa has experienced a sharp increase in service delivery protests in the last decade. One of the reasons advanced is that existing constitutional spaces of democracy do not seem to facilitate effective local participation. Consequently, there is a need to investigate potential mechanisms to enhance local participation because it is believed to contribute towards improved service delivery. This study responds to the following question: What challenges inhibit existing spaces of participation? How can these identified spaces be improved? The study draws data from existing literature and local government documents on South Africa. It concludes that there is a need to improve existing spaces of local participation, which would improve service delivery.
Towards design of citizen centric e-government projects in developing country context: The design-reality gap in Uganda
(SciKA, 2019) Kyakulumbye, Stephen; Pather, Shaun; Jantjies, Mmaki
E-government projects should be at the heart of service delivery in developing countries if the lives of citizens, especially the socially and economically marginalized, are to be improved. However, quite often in developing country contexts, citizens have been treated as recipients of technology projects through a top-down approach from central governments. Such a paradigm of implementation usually results in the non-use of the deployed technologies and their associated e-services. A consequence of non-use of e-services results in a wastage of the public fiscus. The extant literature points to a number of underlying causes of the problem. One such problem which has been highlighted is called the “Design-Reality gap”. This paper investigates the nature of the gap. It presents findings from policy analysis and in-depth face-to-face interviews with e-government policy makers and implementers. In addition, it reports on findings from focus group discussions with potential e-government users in a health sector setting. The results which are based on a participatory action research methodology reveal that there exists a glaring design-reality gap between egovernment policy planners and citizens’ aspirations. We argue that co-creation could be a feasible approach for the design of e-government application services towards efforts to bridge the design-reality gap.

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